SOURCE: "The Talk of the Town: Notes and Comment," in The New Yorker, Vol. LXI, No. 9, April 22, 1985, pp. 35-6.

An American editor, Shawn joined the staff of the New Yorker in 1933 as a reporter for the magazine's "Talk of the Town" section. In 1952 he succeeded Harold Ross as editor of the magazine. In the following excerpt, which appeared as an unsigned "Talk of the Town "feature in anticipation of a merger between the New Yorker Magazine, Inc., and Advance Publications, Inc., the editors of the New Yorker reaffirm the magazine's long-standing policy of "editorial independence. 'I

In 1925, when the magazine was founded, by Harold Ross (its first editor-in-chief) and Raoul Fleischmann (its first publisher), The New Yorker, like any new publication, had to fumble its way toward its natural character. We, the editorial people, knew by instinct that to be able to make The New Yorker the magazine...